4 Tasks To Do When You Reset Your Clocks for Daylight Saving Time

November 5th, 2021

Cosmo again! When Daylight Saving Time ends, it’s your cue to set your clocks one hour behind. It’s also a reminder that it’s a good time to perform some semi-annual household tasks. In the fall and spring you should:

Put a new spin on your ceiling fans.

The end of Daylight Saving Time typically coincides with the start of the heating season. To make your house more comfortable during the cold months, take your ceiling fans out of cooling mode by reversing the direction of their rotation. When they spin clockwise, they’ll destratify and push warm air downward, making the room feel warmer. There is usually a switch on the base of the fan to reverse direction. Make sure the power is off, and use a stable ladder tall enough to reach the fan easily.

Replace your smoke and carbon monoxide detector batteries.

We hope your smoke or carbon monoxide detector never has a reason to sound an alarm, but if an emergency arises, they’re a safety feature no home should be without. The National Fire Protection Agency reports that out of every three house-fire deaths, two occurred in homes without functioning smoke alarms. The most common reason for this failure to operate was a missing or disconnected battery, and the second most common cause was a dead or discharged battery.

Some carbon monoxide detectors are more sensitive than others. Homes with residents who are elderly or ill, or with small children, are safer when they use a low-level carbon monoxide detector. Like smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors should be installed on every floor of the house, most importantly in hallways near bedrooms. It’s also important to know whether your detector is the kind that is sealed and has an expiration date. If your detector is expired, replace the entire device, not just the batteries.

Replenish the perishable items in your emergency food supply.

Food is one of the basic supplies your home needs to be truly prepared for an emergency. Some foods, if stored properly, can be stored indefinitely. These include dried corn, dry pasta, white rice, bouillon products, and instant cocoa, coffee and tea. Other foods start to go bad after as little as six months, including powdered milk, dried fruit, boxed potatoes, and dry, crisp crackers. If you have any of these foods stockpiled, take them out of the supply and replace them with fresh items.

If you haven’t done so lately, replace your air filters.

Here we go again, another blog post where we talk about why it’s important to replace your furnace filters! This simple maintenance task may seem like a small thing, but it can make a big difference in improving your Indoor Air Quality and improving your furnace’s function and efficiency.

Depending on what type of filters your system uses, twice a year may or may not be frequent enough. One-inch filters need replacement at least once every three months, so that means changing the filters more often than you change your clocks. Remember also that once every three months for 1” filters once every six months for 2”- 6” filters is the minimum – if the filters are visibly dirty, they should be replaced immediately, regardless of how long they’ve been in use.

Have questions about furnace filters, Indoor Air Quality, or anything else we’ve discussed in this post? Contact SG Heating & Air Conditioning LLC today at 609-448-1273!

Wow, I guess there’s more to Daylight Saving Time than I thought. Some of these tips aren’t just time-saving…they could be life-saving! Woof!